NEW YORK—First impressions can create unsettling feelings even in elite players. Stepping onto Arthur Ashe Stadium for her first-round match, Simona Halep felt an immediate reaction to the size of the stage: "This court is huge."
Halep struggled to scale her game—and nerves—to the the largest Grand Slam stadium in the world, and for one set the second seed was displaced by the depth of American wild card Danielle Rose Collins' drives. Halep flattened a forehand into net, then wound up for a moment as if ready to spike her Wilson racquet to the court in frustration. Instead, she threw her arms up in a gesture of exasperation, tossed her head back, and stared at the sky.
Turning her focus back on the court, Halep finally found her range and asserted her authority from the baseline in scoring a 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2 comeback win that sent her into the second round for the fourth straight year.
It wasn't a clean performance. A twitchy Halep finished with 24 winners against 33 unforced errors, including seven double faults, she had trouble handling the high ball, and her forehand strayed at times. But elite players find a way to win when their best tennis is elusive, and Halep did that today after a scratchy first-set tiebreaker.
Playing her first tour-level main draw match, the NCAA champion from the University of Virginia looked as comfortable on court as a grad student on campus. Showing no signs of nerves, Collins came out cracking the ball and competed with plenty of positive emotion. Halep, who usually reads the game so well, looked baffled at times when Collins stepped inside the baseline to change direction down the line. When Halep sailed a forehand, Collins snatched the 49-minute first set, pointed to her support box, and screamed with such passion that a vein in the side of her neck bulged visibly.
